Ministry of Time Bradley Kaliane (2025)

One of the 18 best novels of the year according to the Sunday Times and a book of the year for the New York Times, Guardian, Independent, Evening Standard, Spectator, Red, NPR, Vanity Fair, People, Slate, Advocate, Sydney Morning Herald, Globe and Mail, Den of Geek, Good Housekeeping, Goodreads, NetGalley and Smithsonian Magazine. This smart, funny and moving debut is an addictive science-fiction romantic comedy and a surprisingly powerful meditation on the climate crisis. A civil servant is offered a lucrative job in a mysterious new government ministry gathering expats from across history to test whether time travel is feasible. Her role is to work as a bridge, living with, supporting and monitoring expat 1847 Commander Graham Gore, a former Victorian polar explorer. An adventurer by trade, Gore soon adjusts to this bizarre new world of washing machines, feminism and Spotify, and during a long, sultry summer the pair move from awkwardness to friendship to something more. But as the true shape of the project that brought them together b…